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Culture is a wide term that surrounds beliefs, values, social norms, social behaviors, and overall can be understood as our way of existence. When you step out into the world, you will come to see people from different backgrounds and all different walks of life. It is in the best essence to honor cultural diversity with your best phrases and the best course of action. The beauty and importance of learning new cultures and their customs are that firstly they may not be so far off from your own culture. There are many similarities that others do not see once you get passed skin color, religious beliefs, or income class. Secondly, there is so much enriched knowledge that all cultures hold, as well as a new perspective. It is the diversity of ideas and different viewpoints which result in standing the grounds for growth, wisdom, and development. Life will become repetitively boring if every single individual and their culture will possess the same boring interests and/or hobbies and the same plain qualities as everyone else.
My partner is of a South Asian Indian background. South Asians and/or Indians have a strong bond with family members and relatives. Women are viewed as the caregivers of children and the elderly, while men are the breadwinners of the family. Elders and men are looked upon as wise and experienced, and the young seek their wisdom and advice on life matters. My cultural background is of European descent. My parents are from two different countries based in Europe. My father comes from Central Italy, Rome, while my mother comes from the Portuguese Azores Island, Terceira. They immigrated to Canada where they both took an English course and encountered each other.
There are more similarities than differences between the cultures than others may think. It always astounded me how some people can think that we as a human race can be so different. To me, I always thought that we are all alike because of family. If you look at it from a different aspect, we all have things in common, first beginning with family life. Across all cultures, we all hold family close to our hearts. We love our parents, along with our siblings or cousins, and our aunts and uncles. About this alone, we need to understand that we are all more alike than different. Secondly, we all want our families to succeed and/or follow their dreams and ambitions. This desire to have your loved ones be who they aspire to be. Family, no matter what cultural background you have, support one another and do whatever they can to help bolster the dream. Lastly, it’s food. I had a professor once ask us an ice-breaker question about how we cook rice. This took to me because at the end of our session we all came to realize that although we all cook rice slightly differently, we all still cook rice. It was a moment that should make us all think that no matter where we come from, there is always a common ground that we can relate to.
On the contrary to many people’s personal beliefs, I find that there are more similarities than differences between South Asian Indians and Europeans. Similarly, Saurin et al. (2013) argued that great diversity is important for resilience as it offers a deeper understanding of the organizational context, thus providing a more precise basis for decision-making and for actions to take. Diversity studies have also supported the notion that diverse work units can assist sense-making processes (Saurin et al., 2013). The closeness of family and relatives seems to be the center of my partner’s life. The fact that she helps her parents financially and on a personal level speaks a lot about their culture and values. There is an understanding that our young people also have a lot to offer. My partner states that women in their home work, that they are educated, and it is up to them to choose how to spend their life the way they wish to. In India, it would be very frowned upon for a woman in her thirties to be unmarried. But there is an understanding of her family that as adults we get to make our own decisions.
In regards to the dominant culture in the Canadian context, it would be Europeans over South Asians. The Ontario Ministry of Finance’s survey of Visible Minorities and Ethnicity in Ontario showcased the numbers of visible minorities making Canada increasingly diverse in culture. Toronto is by far the most diverse census metropolitan area (CMA) in Ontario. In 2001, 1.7 million people were visible minorities in this CMA, representing 36.8% of its population, 80% of the province’s visible minorities, and 15% of the total population of Ontario. In Canada, only Vancouver (36.9%) had the same high proportion of visible minorities. Of those European origins, in Ontario is 3,882,500, which is 34.4% of the population, and South Asian origins, in Ontario is 592,500, which is 5.3% of the population. Among visible minority groups, South Asians (554,870) accounted for 26% of visible minorities, followed by Chinese (481,505) at 22%, and Blacks (411,095) at 19%. We live in a world that is combined with many races and a wide diverse multicultural melting pot. To proceed with cultural diversity with a mindset and actions that embrace this unity will lead to many reaping benefits. “Current societal developments—such as increasing globalization and the wave of refugees in Europe—have led to the increasing importance of cultural diversity” (Cox, 1994). A diverse community can bring about many new perspectives on a world that is always changing. Having a wide and varied perspective and lens of looking at the world lends to innovative thinking. Communication and understanding of differences lead to increased compassion instead of judgment. This is evident while we are working in groups and while we are made of a diverse multicultural class. Individuals who come together and bring their unique styles and new methods of working and coexisting together tend to support each other and make a more productive team. This may usher doors being opened toward new opportunities. Diversity opens the door to new opportunities and the blending of ideas that would otherwise have been homogeneous. Across the country, we, as a diverse province, will combat layered challenges, so having people with different backgrounds can lead to better problem-solving with an abundance of richness in opinions.
One of the misconceptions and stereotypes that were mentioned to me was that Indian men took poor care of their wives. Having discussed this with my partner has revealed those misconceptions were false. “This distinction is particularly important since visible differences can lead to reactions based on prejudices and previous experiences. Another type of diversity that is particularly relevant in the organizational context is experiential diversity [e.g. education, professional background, industry experience]” (Milliken and Martins, 1996). Growing up in a dual-cultural family has shown me at an early age that between cultures we do have similar priorities. Family and relatives are top priorities in both my partner’s and my culture, and the need to have our family members succeed in life is another major priority.
As a social worker, it is important to understand cultural awareness and without it I am not sure that you would be able to help anyone to the full ability needed. Social workers need to recognize that there is a large number of cultures that exist, and if there is no middle ground, it will be hard to assist with the services. Acknowledging that all cultural expressions are valid will help in aiding with their issues with respecting each other’s differences, once understanding cultural awareness will be very beneficial to all. Valuing what cultures have to bring to the table will open new views and ways around situations that may at first seem obstructive. We need to find ways to empower diverse groups and contribute to their success. Through this approach, we need to celebrate all of our differences without having to just tolerate what we do not understand.
Cultural diversity is important in every setting, especially in life, but it can be even more pivotal when it happens within an institution such as education. “However, it is difficult to focus on only one dimension of diversity since in work groups; various dimensions naturally coexist and influence each other” (Duchek, Raetze, Scheuch, 2019). Students around the globe have the right to a high-quality education, and as such, many positive outcomes come along with it when institutions believe in the power of diversity. Interacting and engaging with individuals who have diverse practices, beliefs, and unique life experiences promotes empathy. While you can never fully understand someone’s life without being them, the next best thing you can do is learn from it, listen, and understand it from their cultural point of view. Attending a culturally diverse institute of education will prepare students for their future in the workplace and their own world around them. When students participate with people from varied cultures, it provides them with evermore experience and confidence in handling things outside of their comfort zones. It can build up a powerful strength of character, tremendous pride, and confidence.
In actuality, there was not much that surprised me when my partner shared her culture with me. I have lived in Toronto most of my life and I have been surrounded by many different cultures perhaps that have shaped my views. To be honest many stereotypes have been said about South Asians, especially Indian culture, on how the men are domineering. For myself, I understand that society will paint whatever picture they want of other cultures, but I do not take to stereotypes at all. The way I look at it, all cultures have those types of conventional images. For example, Latin Americans drink too much but so do Europeans. Indian and Arabs have domineering men but so do Italians. In my view, you cannot just pinpoint one culture as holding all the negative influences most cultures do as well. In my household, my parents speak loud, while my oriental friend’s household does not. I do not like to judge other cultures, I love to find similarities, especially in food and cooking.
Our country is filled with cultured people who have entirely different beliefs system, God’s religions, traditions, and a different way of life. Also, it is within our differences that we can find beauty. Regarding dealing with both educational and professional environments, cultural diversity benefits everyone. It creates a way to better problem-solving, a lot more empathy and compassion, it deepened our learning and in turn our acceptance, and it will help with the way we approach the world from various outlooks. As social workers, we must understand the utter importance that diversity has on society and the impact it creates, like a fork in the road, along with the unique diversity it brings about the most distinctive results.
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